Sliding ladder



(No Model.)

W. J.,THURWANGER. SLIDING LADDER.

w/ TNESSES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Patented Feb. 13, 1894,

INVENTOR (No Model.) 2 Sheets-.-Sheet '2.

W. J. THURWANGER. SLIDING LADDER.

No. 514,790. Patented Feb. 13, 1894.

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ne STATES ATENT Enron.

WILLIAM J. THUBWANGER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

SLIDING LADDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 514,790, dated February13, 1894.

Application filed August 31, 1893.

vented a new and Improved Sliding Ladder,

of which the following is a full, clear, and ex-- act description.

My invention relates to improvements in sliding ladders such as are usedto push back and forth opposite a row of shelves, or across a room forany purpose, and the object of my invention is to produce a simpleladder and supports for it, which are constructed in such a manner thatthe. ladder will be held very steadily and its foot prevented fromswinging laterally, also to construct the ladder and its supports insuch a way that they may be easily applied to a ceiling or to theshelving of a room, and further to construct the upper ladder support insuch a way that the ladder will not fall even though its supportingpulleys break.

To these ends,my invention consists of certain features of constructionand combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter describedandclaimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar figures of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is afront elevation of aladderand its supports, the lower trackbeing shown in section, and the ladder being suspended from the ceilingof a room. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is an enlargedcross section of the upper ladder bracket, the track,

and the hanger for the track. Fig. lis a front elevation of a modifiedform of the ladder which is adapted to be connected with the shelves ofa room; and Fig. 5 is a side elevation ofthe same.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the upper track 10 of the ladder, which is acommon T-track, is supported in hangers 11 which are firmly secured tothe ceiling, and the upper end of the ladder is carried by an elongatedbracket 12, which has on its upper side and at the ends, grooved pulleys13 which run on the vertical web of the track, while on the lowercorners of the bracket are similar pulleys 14. which fit against theunder side of the track.

Serial No. 484.437.

(No model.)

as a guide and prevent any possible jumping of the bracket.

The ladder 17 is of the common kind, and its upper rung or step issecurely fastened to the central portion of the bracket, and the ladderas illustrated is arranged to slide oppositev a row of shelves 18. Theladder is providedat the bottom with strap brackets 19, which aresecured to the side pieces of the ladder, and these are provided withthe usual casters 20, which run upon the floor. To prevent any swayingof the ladder laterally, it is provided at its lower end and preferablyon the side next the shelves, with a bent guide arm 21, the lower end ofwhich terminates in a fork 22, and this runs on a track 23 which issecured to the floor and extends in front of the shelves, and it will beseen that this fork and arm hold the ladder in a substantially rigidposition, so that it can only move forward and backward on the tracks 10and 23.

The ladder may be supported from the shelves sometimes more convenientlythan it can from the ceiling, and in such cases the forms of supportsillustrated in Figs. t and 5 are supplied. In these figures, the track10 is like that already described, but is supported by means of brackets24 which are secured to the uprights of the shelves. bracket 12 is alsolike that shown in Figs. 1 to 3, and is provided with pulleys 12 and 1tto run on the track. The bracket has however, on its lower cornersdepending straps- 25, which are secured to the side pieces of the ladder17, and the ladder in this case fronts the shelves. The upper ends ofthe straps 25 merge into sockets 26, which hold the journals of thepulleysl l, but the pulleys may be j ournaled in any other convenientway.

The ladder is provided at the bottom with curved guide arms 28, whichare pivoted to the side pieces of the ladder, and these arms extendtoward the shelves and have pivoted on their free ends and upper sides,guide pulleys or wheels 29, which abut with the base of The the shelvesand turn on a vertical axis, while at the free ends of the arms 28, andon the under side are casters 30 which run upon the floor, and thecasters and guide wheels enable the ladder to run easily and also serveto steady it. This construction enables the foot of the ladder to bemoved outward and inward laterally, the movement being of course limitedby the manner in which the pulleys 13 and 14 are mounted on the track10.

If desired, the arm 28 may be attached higher up on the ladder, as shownby dotted lines in Fig. 5, and the guide wheels made to run on the upperportion of the shelf base. This arrangement permits the arms 28 to bedropped into a position substantially parallel with the ladder so thatthe ladder may lie fiat against the shelves when it is not in use.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. In a slidingladder, the combination with a trackfor supporting the upper end of the ladder, of a bracket provided withpulleys fitting upon the upper and lower edges of the track and with acentral lug projecting laterally above the track, and a ladder securedto said bracket, substantially as described.

2. In a sliding ladder, the combination with a track, of a bracketprovided with pulleys fitting upon the upper and lower edges of thetrack, and with lugs projecting laterally above 1 and beneath the track,and a ladder secured to the bracket, substantially as described.

3. A sliding ladder, comprising a supporting track for the upper end ofthe ladder, a bracket having pulleys fitting the upper and lower edgesof the track, lugs projecting laterally from the bracket between thepulleys and extending above and beneath the track, a ladder suspendedfrom the track, and cas ters to support the lower end of the ladder,substantially as specified.

4. A sliding ladder, comprising a track for the upper end of the ladder,an elongated bracket having pulleys at its opposite ends which fit theupper and lower edges of the tracks, lugs projecting laterally from thebracket above and below the track, a ladder suspended from the bracket,and casters at the foot of the ladder, substantially as specified.

5. In a sliding ladder, the combination with a ladder having its upperend supported on a movable bracket, of casters for supporting the lowerend of the ladder, and an arm on the lower end of the ladder for guidingand holding the said lower end of the ladder a predetermined distancefrom the shelves or other object, as the ladder is moved along in frontof the same substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the sliding ladder, of a track arranged nearthe foot of the ladder, and an arm secured to the ladder and providedwith a forked end to slide on the track, substantially as specified.

\VILLIAM J. THURWANGER.

Witnesses:

E. P. ALBIN, H. R. RUST.

